User reviews

Before the opening credits, an attractive young woman has a terrible fight with an older man. She kicks him in the goody holders and drives away… After the credits, we meet cute college professor Cameron Mathison (as Jacob Kelly). He is obviously not the man in the opening. Also a famous novelist, Mr. Mathison is happily married to attractive realtor Annie Wersching (as Allison). Due to health and age concerns, Ms. Wersching is unable to bear children. She has, luckily, one viable frozen embryo left in the fridge. The only thing left for Mathison and Wersching to do is find a surrogate for their baby. This being a "Lifetime" TV movie, you know what that means...

Drooling over Mathison, Amy Scott (as Katherine "Kate" Randall) maneuvers her way into a job at the college. The young woman we meet in the violent opening minutes, Ms. Scott is determined to be selected as "The Surrogate" and carry Mathison's child. Surrogate mothers are marvelous foil for psycho TV movie women. This story follows a predictable formula, but adds some events you're not likely to predict, especially during the last minutes. A pregnant woman shown "water breaking" has become acceptable viewing on US TV, but director Doug Campbell and his crew top it off with an astonishing and wacky look at what could possibly follow that function.

***** The Surrogate (1/1/13) Doug Campbell ~ Cameron Mathison, Amy Scott, Annie Wersching, Matthew Alan

THE SURROGATE (TV MOVIE 2013)

BASIC PLOT: Allison and Jacob Kelly are desperate to put the past behind them, and the future in a crib. They've survived Jacob's (Cameron Mathison) affair, losing a child, and Allison's (nm1156709Annie Wersching) cancer. Now, they have one final chance to have baby, a surrogate. Allison's cancer has left her sterile, but before her cancer treatments, they froze 12 embryos. Unfortunately, there's only one viable embryo left. After their first surrogate Remy Daniels (Annie Wersching) dies, in what appears to be a drug fueled accident, they are frantic to find someone reliable to carry their child. Out of the blue, Kate Randall (Amy Scott), an office worker at Whittendale, the college where Jacob works, approaches Jacob about becoming a surrogate. Even though they don't really know her, she seems perfect. Her references check out, but Jacob has a feeling about Kate, and it's not good. Soon, Jacob's life is in shambles. He's lost his job, his wife, everything that's important to him. Can Jacob discover what's behind this disaster, reclaim his life, and save his unborn child, before it's too late?

WHAT WORKS: *Women believe the worst about men because men live up to our worst expectations. Allison (Annie Wersching) is willing to believe the worst about Jacob (Cameron Mathison), because this is not his first indiscretion. Women also tend to believe other women, when it comes to the worst in men.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *Even though women tend to believe the worst about men, women know female behavior. Kate Randall's (Amy Scott) adolescent frame of Jacob, would be recognized by an older woman, like Allison, once she had a chance to calm down. It's too juvenile, and not what a middle aged man would do. Allison would also know her husband is not violent. Having a bad temper, is NOT the same thing as hitting a woman. These things would give up the game to Allison, not reinforce it.

*Whittendale would not be so quick to fire Jacob. It's basically a he said, she said, and firing him outright gives him legal recourse to sue. More likely, they'd put him on administrative leave, pending an investigation.

*When Jacob and Allison set up Kate, they WOULD RECORD IT! With cell phones as ubiquitous as they are these days, this is not a plot hole you can get away with anymore. BOTH Jacob and Allison would RECORD her confession. This plot hole is unacceptable coming from two distinguished writers of melodramas, Ken Sanders and Barbara Kymlicka. They both know how to write a work around better than this.

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *I would recommend this to people who understand and appreciate the art form of melodrama. It does have a few plot holes, but it's still an enjoyable ride.

CLOSING NOTES: *This is a Made-For-TV movie, please keep that in mind before you watch\rate it. TV movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.

*I have no connection to the film, or production in ANY way. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews. Hope I helped you out.

The Surrogate is a fantasy where people act like aliens logic is thrown out of the window and murder is so easy a utter piece of trash do not watch.

Me and my friend settled down to watch a creepy movie and we happened upon this one. We decided to watch it and OH HOW I WISH WE HADN'T! It was really bad. There were small plot gaps that I couldn't think up an explanation for, there were also long, LONG, breaks between scene changes. The ending was also REALLY REALLY BAD. Me and my friend will be watching it again but only b/c we want to laugh at it some more, however, if that is what you're looking for then look no longer!

The girl with the baby is the creepiest character I have ever seen on TV or the movies! She is an ugly little creep! She plays that role so good I bet there are thousands of people who would like to strangle her if they could! A HORROR MOVIE!

I honestly don't understand why people review Lifetime films as though they're supposed to be the same quality as Sunset Boulevard or Citizen Kane. All the "it's so bad" reviewers need to get a clue. Lifetime films are the equivalent of flimsy romance novels or pulp thrillers. They're simple escapism. This movie does just what it sets out to... it's a distraction from the world's problems and the performances and twists were great. This was a fun Lifetime-quality thriller.